July 07, 2007

I hate to admit this but in order to write this I will have to admit it.

We rarely go to a church service when we are on vacation. Okay, rarely is being generous. We never go to church when we are on vacation. Practically speaking it is so that we do not have to pack some nicer clothes but with the casualness of church over the past couple of years that is not the issue. Mostly it is because we are looking for a break from out normal week which includes a week full of church activity (especially for me).

So, this trip has been unusual for me. It is not the normal vacation b/c my family is not here with me. This is a 'hearing' trip where we are seeking God for Scotland. Mostly I suppose listening for God's heart in regards to those people David and Beth are connected to in this country.

Add to this that there is literally a church on every corner that is historically significant or at the very least extremely cool looking; so, I have been enjoying visiting lots of different churches.

Here is the list:
a Catholic service Saturday evening in Aberdeen
Machar Church in Aberdeen which was originally built in 1050
Sunday morning an Assembly of God service in Aberdeen in the church David came to be my brother
Sunday evening a 4-Square service in Kristiansand, Norway with a pastor the Reid's know from Calif
Monday afternoon a Lutheran church building built for the Vikings in 550 that were being saved in Norway
Tuesday afternoon a Lutheran church in the middle of Kristiansand
Thursday afternoon a Church of Scotland church on the west coast of Scotland in Oban
Friday afternoon a church service (15-minutes long, Peter!) on the spot where Saint Columba first
landed in Scotland and brought christianity to the natives of Northern Scotland.

I was able to pray for a bit in most of the churches, although all of them did not have services. Different denominations were represented and each of them believes different things. However, it is amazing how little they disagree on the major tenets of Christianity but how much these little differences tend to divide them.

God is the God of creation; the God of the Bible. He is not limited to a church building nor is He limited to a denomination's belief system. God is outside of time and the universe fits in the expanse of His hand. He is not limited to one form of worship or one culture's preferred way.

A bended knee in the Viking church in Norway was an act of worship. Raising my hands in the spirit-filled church in Aberdeen was also. Reciting a creed (set of beliefs) that is over a 1,000 years old in a catholic church was as moving as singing the most current christian worship tune at the church in Norway. Sitting in the pew in the massive Lutheran church (green steeple in the photos) in downtown Kristiansand and praying brought me just as close to God as if praying in my home town.

I am the church. I bring God with me. Where I am He is. I just forget that when I am in trouble. I act like He is not there to comfort me when I am afraid. I think that I need a team of people to keep me going or a worship CD to motivate me. But then I remember...I am His house. He is in me and me in Him. He is above me, beside me, beneath me, and in me.

So, this week as you are being troubled by life remember that God is with you and you can reach out to Him as He is always reaching out to help you.

July 06, 2007

There are always several food delicacies in each culture. In Scotland there is Hagis and Black Pudding. I have not eaten Hagis but I did hold a 'tube' of it in my hands tonight at the supermarket in Edinburgh. Eating it will have to come next, I suppose, if I want to truly experience the culinary heart and soul of Scotland.

This morning I did have Black Pudding for breakfast, however. Pudding for breakfast? Yeah! Not so fast. First, pudding in Scotland is not like our pudding in America. Our pudding is sweet and creamy. Second, wait until you hear what is in Black Pudding and you will not be so excited about pudding for breakfast.

Black Pudding looks like a thick , breakast sausage patty although it really is black. There is nothing suspicious about it as it disguises itself as just another eggs and bacon breakfast complement.

The kicker is the main ingredient of Black Pudding. Would you believe it is pig's blood? Yup, you heard me right! It is something like ground oats, spices, and pig's blood. Mmmm! In Scotland it is said that eating their delicacies is like being on an episode of Fear Factor.

Well, certainly fear is not a factor for me because I ate my Black Pudding (actually, it was quite good) and I was able to blame David for encouraging me to break the Levitical code of not eating the blood of an animal. Isn't it always the elders that lead the kind pastors astray?

July 03, 2007

I knew going into this trip that the dollar was weak to the UK pound. What I did not know is how weak or how that would practically work out.

I brilliantly maneuvered myself through Scottish customs at the airport and managed to hail a cab and make it to the train station. At the train station I brought my ticket and even found the correct train.

Two things remained. Finding a restroom and making a phone call to David's parents to let them know what train I would arrive on in Aberdeen.

How long has it been since you've used a pay phone? For me it has been many, many years as my cell works fine wherever I have traveled. I found a pay phone that took a credit card (wanted to save my pounds I had wisely got from the cash machine) and the sign on it said "Minimum 20 p per call". Remember, I was exhausted from the long trip but I still was able to calculate that to be $40. Yikes! But what choice did I have? I was going to a city where this phone call was needed in order to connect me with anyone who knew me or cared about me. I made the call.

Second thing before boarding the train was to find a toilet. Now, that sounds crude and crass to me but that is what they say (they being the Scottish) instead of the nicer, gentler restroom or bathroom. Someone pointed me in the direction of the toilet and I headed straight for it.

There was a gate on the door and a coin receptacle with a sign that read "Toilet...20 p". All my mind could think was "$40 to use the bathroom?" I turned around and made my way to the train employee who had directed me to the toilet and he assured me there was a bathroom on the train.

There is a lady that travels up and down the train with a little cart with sandwiches, sodas, and snacks on it. I wanted a water but was scared to death to get anything. I was no idiot--if it cost 20p to go to the toilet then it must cost much more to buy a water.

You see where I am going with this?

The 20 p for the toilet and the phone call did not mean Pounds--it meant pence. A huge difference. I thought I had made a $40 phone call and saved $40 by not using the restroom. I was wrong.

I made about a .50 cent phone call and saved .50 cents by not using the Scottish toilet.

This is probably not the last blunder I will make on this trip and my subsequent trips to foreign countries. I blame it on the fatigue that brought about a lack of vitamin B to my head that caused this brief moment of insanity.

By the way, I did find out that it would probably be better to use the British pound then the toilet paper as it is the smallest square of tp you will never want to use. How in the world they make such a small piece of paper so rough astounds me.

I guess at $40 a use for the toilet it would make sense to use the pounds instead.

This past Wednesday, after a great lunch with my family, I eagerly arrived at the airport 2-hours before my plane departed for Newark, NJ with a connecting flight to Glasgow, Scotland that evening. My bags were packed and I was pumped.

This was a dream coming true. I have traveled extensively thru the US, many times to Mexico, to Ecuador, and to 3-provinces of Canada. Travel to the rest of the world had been elusive but definitely my heart's desire.

I boarded the plane and my seatbelt was snug and I had a newspaper and a book in hand. Two nice college students were sitting next to me (skinny ones which always help when squeezed into airplane seats!). It was 3:30 PM and the adventure was about to begin.

Little did I know where this adventure would wind and how long a 12-hour trip could be extended. The flight was scheduled to leave at 4:05 that afternoon but minutes before taxing out to take off we were asked to de-board the plane because of a delayed take-off. No problem. We re-boarded the plane at 5:30 p.m. and left 30-minutes later.

The trip was great and we even made up about 30-minutes of time. We circled around Newark for about 30-minutes and then the captain's voice came over the sound system. There would be about a 30-minute delay. No problem. I could still make my flight out to Scotland.

90-minutes later we were headed to the Maryland airport a 3-hour car ride south of Newark. Scotland, we have a problem! We landed at the Maryland airport at around midnight and stayed on the tarmac for about 1-hour. I was 10-hours into my 12-hour trip to Scotland and had not even made it to Newark!

The announcement came in that we were going to be disembarked and that we needed to pick up our luggage from the conveyor belts. In the mass confusion it was decided that we would be bussed to Newark (that is how I know it is a 3-hour drive!). The busses were not nice big Greyhound busses but small shuttle busses. I think about 10-pounds were jiggled off on that ride.

I assumed the best of Continental. Certainly they would have a representative to meet us at Newark and to get us on the next flight out to our destinations. I was wrong. Really very wrong as they dumped us off at the front of the airport without an 'I'm sorry' or 'have a great day'.

I left Houston Wednesday at 6:00 PM and now it was Thursday at 8:00 AM—after 3-hours in line I had finally found out that I was not getting out of Newark until Friday night. I asked for a connecting flight to anywhere around Scotland but was especially keen on flying into London where I could take an all day train to Glasgow. No luck (blessedly). With no sleep and nowhere to go I had to book a hotel for Thursday night.

Thankfully, with Kresha and Zeke's web help, I found a great hotel for what was a very good price in that area. I walked in at 9:00 AM and told the girl "Sheena, if you have a room I can check into right now you'll be my best friend in New Jersey." She did not crack a smile but kept clicking on her keyboard. Finally, "Mr. Herron, it looks like I'm going to be your best friend." Still no smile but I knew God was smiling down on me.

The hotel had a great indoor pool and hot tub, was all suites, and had a decent restaurant. I napped and then got on the phone to Continental. All of my flights had been cancelled, including the return flight from Scotland.

The hotel gave me a late check out but I was still at the airport 6-hours before boarding. And guess what? The flight was delayed for just over an hour.

We boarded and I arrived in Glasgow, Scotland about 10:00 AM Saturday morning; almost 3-full days since I left Houston—the longest 12-hour trip of my life.

What a journey. But I tell you all those details to share what God was doing inside me the entire time.

I just kept plugging forward determined to go to Scotland. My choices were to return to Houston (I had almost 3-days to do so) or continue to Scotland. I could turn around because of troubles beyond my control or just simply keep going towards the fulfillment of my dream. When would I ever have the chance again to travel to Scotland with one of my favorite families? When would I have the time slotted to do so? Sounds like the journey doesn't it—we move towards a dream, circumstances put roadblocks in our way, and then we have to make a choice to go forward or to return to where we were.

My attitude was amazing (no bragging intended). I was exhausted staying up basically the entire night but God kept my heart and thoughts clear. I continued to be kind and help people. Remember the two college students? We stuck together on the 3-hour ride and in line for those 3-hours…one had never been out of Louisiana nor had she flown. I was able to joke with the airline employees who had been hated on for the over 200 cancelled flights.

Why? I had a place to go. I had a destination (a destiny) that I was not willing to get my focus off of. Sounds like the journey doesn't it? When we know where we are going and can keep our eyes on that place then nothing will distract us or discourage us.

Remember my attempt (my begging and pleading to the ticket counter) to get to London? They had the bomb scare the day I would have flown into that airport. I would have been diverted again and possibly even further away from my original destination of Scotland.

I was out of the Glasgow airport sometime close after ten Saturday morning. I grabbed a taxi that took me to a train station to catch a train that would take me to Aberdeen. I was exhausted but things went quite well (except the part where I needed to use the 'toilet' at the train station and saw a 20p sign which I took to mean 20-pounds which is about $40 US—more on that later!) and God blessed me with a young Scottish teenager Zeke's age to travel with who was fascinated with this middle aged American.

So, I arrived safely at the train station in Aberdeen and the Reid's (David's parents) house and guess what is on the news? There has been a terrorist attack at the Glasgow Airport just hours after I left.

Sounds like our journey does it not? Lots of diversions, lots of possible accidents waiting to happen, lots of waiting in line, many opportunities to get angry and hurt and bitter, and then of course, lots of terrorist attacks.

But remember, God has a destination for you and your family. You are going places and you are not alone. You are not alone in the tragedies and mistakes and delays in your life. God is with you. I am with you. We are with you. We are with you not just in the sense of you can talk to us but in the reality that we have also made horrible mistakes, taken wrong turns, been asked to leave the plane to our destination, and our dreams have been delayed.

God gets it and so do we. And maybe God so wants us in authentic fellowship and/or community together so that we are not alone on our journey; so that we can not only suffer and hurt and cry together but to laugh and dance and shout together.

That is why I am on this trip with my Red Family. I did not get it at first but now I get a bit of it. I slept in the house David grew up in. I saw where David was born in 1967. In fact, it is now a pretty posh restaurant and it is one of his dad's favorite restaurants (yes, we went). Chris was born down the street. We drove by where Fiona went to pre-school, saw where David and Beth first met, and visited the church this morning where David was first introduced to our Father when he was 16-years old.

Does it get any cooler then that?

David and I met in the worst of times during a church explosion I would not wish on anyone. But, in the midst of the bad we found so much good; the good (maybe the best?) of ourselves and others; a deeper level with Christ and a deeper sense of destination; gifts and tools we never knew we had; a new boldness and strength that is surprising to both; and a brotherhood that extends beyond us two (and prayerfully will continue to influence thousands and thousands more as God moves in and through us) to our family at The Journey, our family at Freedom, our family from old Abundant Life, our family from all the places we have worshipped, our spiritual family universal, and all those family members that do not yet call our Father Dad.

The journey is messy and circumstances often force us to turn back but we just need to say "No, I will not turn away from this dream." Whether it is something like going to Scotland, having a great marriage or family, seeking healing of all sorts, making a mountain of money, or just getting our kids through school it does not really matter. Do not give up the dream and do not give up on living life wildly with others.

I know, I know. I am supposed to be in Scotland! However, after church on Sunday in Aberdeen, Scotland we took a one hour flight to Kristiansand, Norway. The flight in is gorgeous as is everything we have seen so far. We are in a land of lakes with houses and docks built all around them. Some of the lakes are really inlets from the North Sea.

The pastor of the 4-Square church here in town can pick up someone from the airport in his boat quicker then he can get there by car. An amazing place.

Today I took a long walk up a hill on the opposite side of the harbor. My destination was probably the oldest church in Norway as it was built in 1050 AD. It was the first church in the area used by the Vikings who had been christianized during the previous 100-years or so.

It is a beautiful building that has gone through many remodels and it is still in use. Originally it was Catholic but soon after the Reformation in the 1500's all of Norway became Lutheran.

The original people of Norway were brought to christianity thru violence. The turn from catholic to Lutheran came without much violence here in Norway despite the tens of thousands who died switching in other European countries.

Yesterday I prayed in a huge church (green steeple in the pictures) in the middle of town. It is even more beautiful then the older one and is still used. It is quite young at about 150-years old.